Every Heart
by Rachael Elizabeth
Summary: A oneshot taking place after 'Change the World'. WAY after it. Basically, showing where everyone is later on in life, and Kagome reuniting with people from her original time. Rated 'T' for language.


A/N: Random little idea I had. Basically just to show what happens waaaayyyyyy later on after _Change the World_ ends.

* * *

It'd been so long. Almost five hundred years had passed since the final defeat of Onigumo, or as he called himself at that time, Naraku. Kagome sighed, remembering the battle, remembering everything.

Masumi. She'd been killed in the final battle. It hadn't even been her fight. She'd merely been training the young human girl that had escaped Naraku's slavery and happened upon their group.

The young human girl, Emiko, had become quite a powerful priestess. She had gone to Masumi's village after Shippou was born, leaving InuYasha as well as the rest of them, to go help Masumi's sister, Hana take care of the village, and to inform Hana of what had happened to Masumi.

They'd checked on the girl over the years. Emiko had lived out _most_ of a normal human life span, but was killed early by one of many demons in the horde that had attacked the village. InuYasha and Sesshoumaru saw to it that the villagers, especially the girl, were avenged.

Rin and Shippou had grown quite well. They even resembled full-grown adults in their twenties, despite their hundreds of years of being alive.

Shippou had followed in his father's footsteps, mating and marrying a human girl he'd met name Satsuki. He met Satsuki when he still only appeared as a young teenager, though he was much older. She'd been waiting for her brother to return to her, her parents already being dead, and her brother having promised to return as soon as he became a Samurai. Shippou sought out word of her brother, and relayed to her his findings that her brother had been killed in a fire at the village where he'd been training. When she became of age, he courted her and they immediately decided to wed.

Rin hadn't met anyone as of that time. She was still unmarried, much to everyone's surprise. The girl had grown into quite a beautiful young half-demoness, and she had many men who wanted her, but none that she cared for in the slightest. She was dangerous as well. She knew of her beauty, and knew what it did to men. When a man, human or demon, would ask to court her, she would make them spar with her father. If they could get him on the ground and hold him for ten seconds, she would allow them to court her. Not that Sesshoumaru had any problems with this. As with any father, he disapproved of _any_ man that sought after his baby girl. Needless to say none of the men had lasted a full second against the demon lord.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru hadn't had any more children. They were content and more than blissful with the two they had.

InuYasha. He never met anyone who was able to replace Kikyou. He spent out his time playing with the children, and always protecting the village where Kikyou had resided, until modernization took over, and the villages were replaced by rural towns, then suburbs, then big cities. He was still alive, and still came around quite often, but his age was starting to catch up with him. With half of his blood being human, he didn't age or live quite as long as Sesshoumaru. At that point, a normal person would guess InuYasha to be in his forties or fifties.

Sesshoumaru had opened an historical arts museum in 1930, and it was still thriving. Kagome organized all of the exhibitions and special events they held, while Rin presented the art on tours and helped her mother at the exhibitions. Shippou and Satsuki had a restaurant several blocks away, that had expanded into branches all over Japan and eastern Asia over the past couple decades.

The government was a whole 'nother issue. They knew of the demons' existences, being more than just Sesshoumaru and his family. There were actually many demons still around, all of which the government kept tabs on. One such group was Kouga and Ayame of the wolf clan that had once resided in the mountains in the north. The government kept tabs on all of these groups, but as long as there weren't any crimes committed that had evidence screaming "demon!", they didn't get involved.

Society had no idea. Being alive for so long, the parents were plenty past qualified to home school the children. Same with all demon families. At their respective jobs, the half-demons merely wore hats or bandanas/scarves to hide their ears. It was uncomfortable, but necessary. As for the full demons, anyone could easily blame their ears on a birth abnormality. Other telltale signs were easy to hid by using modern fashions such as tattoos and contacts as a cover.

Her thoughts went back to that of her mother and little brother, Souta, while she sat on her husband's desk, waiting for him to come back from a meeting. That was when she realized what year it was: 2000! It was right around the second time she went down the well, when she reunited with everyone in the Feudal Era and fell in love with Sesshoumaru. This train of thought led her to realize that her mother as alive now. She could see her again.

"Mother, where are you going?" Rin asked, watching as her mother ran at, what looked to the half-demon, a slow pace past her down the hall.

"I'll be back soon, dear. I have to go see something!"

* * *

The steps. There were so many. It'd been so long, she'd forgotten what it was like having to hike these stairs all those times on her way home from wherever she'd been that day as a child. Reaching the top and crossing under the arch that led as a crossway from the stairs to the shrine itself, she could hear her little brother, Souta, still with his cracking voice, a sing of him being in the middle of puberty, "Mother! Mother! Buyo went into the well-house!"

"That's alright, Souta. He'll come back out when he's ready," she heard the voice that lifted her spirits as it had all those times many years ago, after she'd proved to her family that her experience on the other side of the well wasn't a dream.

Souta, dressed for school, ran right past Kagome, glancing at her, and on down the stairs. No "Hello", no "Hey, Sis!", nothing. Ignoring this, and keeping with her mission of reuniting with her mother, Kagome went on her way into the house.

"Mama! Mama, its me! Kagome!" she burst into the kitchen, seeing her mother doing dishes through the window moments before.

"Excuse me, have we met?" Ms. Higurashi looked truly perplexed.

"Mama, its me. Kagome. Your daughter," Kagome tried again. What was going on?

"I'm sorry, Miss but I don't have a daughter. I'm going to have to ask you to leave now," she said sternly.

"Mama, how do you not remember me? I'm your daughter. You raised me for fifteen years, and then you met your granddaughter, Rin, and your grandson, Shippou. What's wrong with you , Mama?"

"Ma'am, please leave before I call the police."

Kagome did as asked and left, trudging slowly down the steps and driving the twelve miles back to the museum. She took back her place sitting on the corner of Sesshoumaru's desk, but this time, she propped her feet up on his chair and rested her head on her knees, letting the tears flow the same as she did the day she learned of her mother's death.

On cue, Sesshoumaru walked in, finally done with the buyers' meeting, "What is the matter, Love?" He ran his fingers through her hair, concern evident in his eyes when he saw the tears filling hers.

"I saw my mother today."

"Kagome…"

"She had no idea who I am. Neither did Souta. She…she almost called the police on me," she said the last part with an ironic little laugh.

"Love, I was hoping you would talk to me before doing something so rash. Think about the science of it for a moment. The mother from when you were a child existed in an entirely different time. With you living in the past while she aged and lived out her years here, the timeline you knew her in was already long gone before we caught up to this year; The year you came back to me. The mother now, she is from another timeline altogether. She will live exactly the same, act the same, everything, with one exception: It will all be with no daughter. You removed yourself from that fate. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. As I said, I was hoping you would talk to me so I could explain all of this to you before you tried meeting with them," he sighed. He hadn't seen his mate this upset in many centuries. Not since her mother had passed away. He gathered her small form in his arms and held her close, "I'm sorry, Love."

"Does Rin have another potential suitor today?" she changed topics, drying what they both hoped would be the last of her tears.

He smirked, "When _doesn't_ she?"

"Good. You're not fighting him this time. I really need to kick someone's ass."


End file.
